


A Fragile Butterfly

by cosmicchelc



Series: Lucifendi Stories [16]
Category: Layton Brothers: Mystery Room, Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: BAMF!Lucy, F/M, First Kiss, Lucy ain't that fragile, The Prof is absolutely struck and suddenly smitten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26560987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicchelc/pseuds/cosmicchelc
Summary: The Prof learns that Lucy isn't so much of a fragile butterfly that he had originally anticipated.
Relationships: Lucy Baker/Alfendi Layton
Series: Lucifendi Stories [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1106973
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	A Fragile Butterfly

**Author's Note:**

> why. do. I. keep. writing. for. this. fandom. oh my goodness. nevertheless, these ideas are coming at me so late and I've recently gained the motivation to start working on the 20+ drafts I have for this fandom. yes, 20+. I've been writing for the past many years for this ship, so I'm not surprised.
> 
> anyway, who wants to see a flustered Prof and one badass Lucy?

The Reconstruction Machine breaks--well, needs repairs is the more apt term to say--the day that he needs it for a case, much to his dismay. Not that the machine wasn't ever going to break, but it was his most prized asset and kept him from going outside to the real world. To prevent any more incidents, any more Forbodiums. He is lucky that the evidence isn't far away and is just locked up for this particular case, but the witness he needs to speak to is in the hospital and by no means, can leave. 

It's not necessarily the _first_ time that he had gone out to a expedition for a case, but it is jarring that he doesn't have to worry for just himself. Lucy is in tow, following with the bright eyes that shouldn't see jarring messes and problems--like himself. 

She didn't quite share that perspective, however.

"Ee, Prof, I'm much more useful if I'm with you, right? Keep notes, give you an ear to listen, perhaps give deductions?" Lucy reasons, already pulling on an orange scarf that matched the colour of her trusty cap the moment he tried to dissuade her from coming with him to the hospital. He frowns, faltering at her drive to even go. It wasn't going to necessarily be fun, just talking to a child that had apparently seen the suspect poison their victim and his statement could prove valuable to the case.

"Yes, well..." He scratches the back of his head, trying to come up with some sort of argument. It was reminiscent to possessive thinking, to which he shakes away. "It won't even be interesting. You could get hurt."

"Doesn't mean I won't follow ya. I'm not some fragile butterfly. And at a 'ospital Prof? I'm even more safe there, innit?" She responds, as though he was the one in the conversation being the unreasonable. He makes no effort to move, to which she shakes her head at. She crosses her arms, clearly refusing to take no for an answer, no matter how much he was beating around the bush for it. "Come on Prof, how can I be a stunning Inspector like ya if you're gonna keep me in these four walls?"

She had, undeniably, a point. One day, she wasn't going to just be a Detective Constable. She would be Inspector Lucy Baker. She'd undeniably follow his steps, perhaps not even using the Reconstruction Machine or would have to be the one to go to the witness just like they were doing now. If he remained within his thought to keep her at bay, she would miss important knowledge and he'd be remiss to not give her at least a couple opportunities to work.

 _To keep you safe_ goes unsaid, though he was tempted. Instead, he opts for, "Alright. Fine. Come along, Lucy."

* * *

St. Bart's hospital is as dreary as he remembers it when he was first brought out to the real world after Forbodium. He passes through corridors of rooms that held individuals with their colouring all wrong, most muted like silent films. Grey from the drugs, grey from the dreary four walls that held them captive to help them. It doesn't take long before they make it to the room where the child was, multiple things attached to him and merely stared at them. He didn't seem no older than eight, dark curls grown out and blue piercing eyes looking at them.

"Inspector Layton and DC Baker. It is a pleasure." The young nurse smiles to them, in one of those unnerving ways that made you want to avert your gaze. She looked to be in her late thirties, though still young enough to easily pass to be in her mid-twenties. She wore the standard scrubs, her name tag clear as day to show her name was indeed Nancy Coolridge, RN. "I'm Benedict's RN, Nancy."

"A pleasure. Hi Benedict! I'm Lucy and this is Alfendi." Lucy smiles, already taken with the child. He had never quite seen Lucy interact with someone much younger and it was curious to see how she spoke, soft like honey. It was endearing. "Mind if we sit?"

"No m'am." Benedict murmurs, glancing over to Nancy who nodded to him. Lucy and the Prof sat, with Nancy standing still by the foot of the bed. 

"Just call me Lucy, sweetie." Lucy assures the young boy.

"You're here because of Mr. Bonnefoy, right?" He questions, fiddling with hands.

"Yes, we are." The Prof responds, attempting the same soft quality that Lucy exhibited. He never quite had to deal with children as witnesses; his previous cases only saw to it that adults were possible culprits or witnesses. Children seeing murder and having to question them, even without bloodshed, was like navigating through a room of tacs. One wrong move and it could damage everything completely, negating any effect the interrogation could have. "It'll just be a few questions. We won't push anything you feel uncomfortable with, but we need your full help so that we can help you."

"Y-yeah." Benedict nods and begins to answer the Prof's questions with Lucy interjecting ever so often to keep the child calm. Nancy watches with careful eyes, which unnerved the Prof ever so slightly. He had expected a parent to be guarding the child, more specifically the parent he had spoken to on the phone, who claimed that his son had information about what had happened to their victim, to be a part of the proceedings. He hadn't expected a nurse to be the one watching them question the child, but the thought escapes him and he places it in the back of his mind for later.

It isn't until about halfway through the questioning that Benedict says something that catches his attention, to which the Prof began prodding. The young boy's eyes widen and he begins to backtrack, but it was too late--he already spoke out of what he was supposed to say. Nancy interjects.

"Inspector, you're clearly causing Benedict distress. I'm going to have to ask you to stop it and if this continues, may have to ask you to leave." Nancy says, glancing to Benedict who looked very uncomfortable. The Prof ignores the nurse.

"Benedict, I need you to be honest with me. People's lives are at stake. You said earlier you saw a man with scrubs on injecting something, but you just said 'her' instead of him. Why is that?" Benedict began to panic further, glancing to Nancy for some sort of signal, something that would help him answer the question. The Prof's eyes narrows at the young boy. "Better yet, why do you keep looking at Miss Coolridge? You're your own person, Benedict. You don't need her approval or do you because she's threatening you?"

"Inspector!" Nancy exclaims, the same time that Lucy chides, "Prof!"

"But...Miss N-Nancy said I'd be in b-big t-t-trouble if I d-disobeyed her." Nancy's eyes widen at the mention, the Prof glancing back to her and standing. Lucy follows in suit, arms crossed, already somewhat edging near the entrance of the room if Nancy chose to bolt.

"And why's that?" Lucy asks the young boy softly, who was quivering now. 

"She said she'd h-hurt m-my m-mummy. S-said she'd do the s-s-same t-thing that she did to Mr. B-Bonnefoy if I didn't l-lie to you." Benedict finally admits, peering down at his sheets as though they were the most interesting thing possible. Nancy stepped away from where she was leaning, brandishing out a gun that pointed directly to the Prof. He opens his mouth to give a solid rebuttal, perhaps something clever when Lucy steps in front of him. More specifically, straight into the fire of the gun.

The Prof feels as though his heart had stopped at the mere glance of the scene in front of him. Lucy, standing in front of him in a protective stance. He opens his mouth again, perhaps to warn Lucy to step the hell away, to stop trying to play hero, but it doesn't come out. 

Instead, the words die in his throat as Lucy goes into action. With quick movements that the Prof was sure he would miss if he blinked, Lucy knocked the gun from the nurse's shaking hand, sweeping her legs from under her, and twists her right arm. He blinks out of habit and finds himself staring at Lucy pinning the nurse to the wall, her hold on Nancy tight as she is twisting her arm unnaturally from the shoulder and elbow. Her other hand is on Nancy's other shoulder, forcing her down onto the wall harder. Nancy moans in pain, grunting, cursing under her breath. It was clear she had a dislocated shoulder and the more she kept moving, the more the Prof was sure that she'd be in further pain. Lucy, for all that he was worried about, seemed the very definition of stoic, holding onto Nancy tight.

It was...

"Benedict, sweetie, can you use the call button on your cot to call someone please?" Lucy's soft voice came back, which was a complete contrast to the raw force she was displaying. He could hear the young boy scramble to press the call button, but the Prof felt so disconnected, so out of it that he hardly realizes that he's standing absolutely still. Absolutely enthralled. Absolutely in awe of his young assistant. "Ta, Benedict. That's good."

Before the Prof could even try to do anything, another nurse comes in from the call and Lucy quickly explains the situation, urging for the new nurse to call the authorities. The nurse leaves and the Prof finally blinks again, breath caught. Lucy turns her head to him, the rawness of her face telling well enough--she was a natural at this. He didn't have to worry about her getting hurt. He should have worried for anyone that came in her path.

"Prof, you alright? Can you pick up the gun?" Lucy asks of him, to which he nods numbly and does as he's told, placing it down onto the table, far from Benedict's reach. His jaw tightens, but he can't afford to stand starstruck. He can ask his questions later, as some security fills into the room, taking Nancy from Lucy's grip. Whatever rawness Lucy had fades away with a smile as she turns back to Benedict and began checking on how he was, offering light reassurance that his mum would be alright. Nancy couldn't do anything anymore. 

He was surprised. He wasn't usually surprised, yet here he was. No less by Lucy Baker. Lucy had never exhibited any sort of means to prove that she could be this volatile, let alone much more apt for field work rather than being in the cramped Mystery Room. How could he have missed this? Where did she learn how to do such a thing? 

"Er, Prof, are you alright?" The Prof looks to Lucy, who was already finished with Benedict, already walking out of the hospital and into a cab. How did they get here so fast? Did he even utter a goodbye to the young, probably still startled child? "Ya look like you've seen a ghost."

"Where did you learn how to do that?" At the incredulity of his voice, Lucy laughs. He falters at that. He didn't expect her to laugh. So full of surprises, she was.

"My father put me through learnin' how to protect myself. Summat to prepare for the career I've been dead set on since I was a wee bairn." Lucy explains, crossing her arms. "Plus, the training the Yard gave was good, yeah? Got us outta that right mess." The Prof's eyes narrow, glaring down at the small, fragile individual that he thought he knew. Well, not so fragile.

"You shouldn't have put yourself in danger, Baker." The Prof feels Al spilling out, to which Lucy only frowns to as though he was being irrational. "It's not right. You could have been shot. She's a nurse. She could have aimed somewhere that could have caused much injury."

"You could've as well!" She remarks, huffing. The cabbie glances at them from the rear view mirror, but doesn't comment. "Besides, she was shakin', Prof. I don't think she even knew how to fire that thing."

"Nevertheless. That was highly rash of you. In that split moment, anything could have happened." Al recedes, leaving Fendi to respond. 

"It's fine, Prof. We apprehended Nancy, innit? Benedict is safe and we're here. Together." Her smile returns and he can't help his reaction, can't help at thinking of how undeniably _sexy_ the entire exchange was. It was still playing in his head, on repeat. He shifts in the cab to face her and she raises her eyebrows, eyes twinkling in expectancy. It doesn't take much of an effort before he brings his chapped lips to her soft ones, clinging to her as though they were the only survivors of a tragic shipwreck and needed to acknowledge the fact that they weren't dead but very much alive. She felt wonderful under his ministrations.

The cough of the cabbie causes Lucy to slide her lips away to his cheek, offering a small kiss to it and mutters something that causes his ears to tinge a very bright shade of red. "Blimey, if I knew you'd react that way, I woulda already shown ya how well I could defend myself. We can continue later, Prof."

 _ **Lucy Baker, you surprise me at all ends,**_ the Prof thought as Lucy clasps her hand around his for the duration of the car ride.


End file.
